Heathrow gives family spaces for work, play and hanging out together

Trish and Andy Meier have been around. Before they moved to their current home in Nolan Hill, the couple lived in the communities of Sherwood, Valley Ridge and Citadel, all in Calgary’s northwest quadrant.

“Every five years, on average, we move. We find that once we live in a house and develop the basement or do any kind of renovation, once the project is done, we move,” Trish says.

The first few moves were for the sake of children and various family members, she says. The recent relocation to Nolan Hill, was strictly for them.

“We had a nice two-storey in Sherwood, but we wanted a different layout. My husband works in IT remotely from home, and he wanted an office. In the last house, we were using the third bedroom, which was right beside our master. It wasn’t very private for all of his calls,” Trish says.

The hunt for a new home with main floor office space took them to show homes in Nolan Hill, where the Meiers found a floor plan they liked by Morrison Homes.

“We liked the show home, but the home we really liked was actually on paper. It was so new that Morrison hadn’t built it,” Trish recalls. “We liked Morrison because of their reputation and quality. We liked their other layouts, so we thought this one would work well. We went on blind faith.”

The Meiers chose the two-storey, three-bedroom, 2.5 bathroom Heathrow, a 2,150-square-foot front drive garage home built on a zero-lot line. With all the changes they made to the standard floor plan, the final sticker price came in at $586,000.

“The main floor office has double French doors. We have nine-foot ceilings, so we made the doors taller, too. We moved the fireplace from the back of house to the side of house and switched it from gas to electric,” she says.

“Being on a zero-lot line, we can only have windows on one side of the house, so we added transom windows to bring in more light,” she says. “It’s a fresh updated look — lots of clean lines.”

The home has a bonus room in the middle of the second floor, which Trish says gives their 16-year-old son and the two of them more privacy.

“It’s a like an apartment on the upper floor,” she says.

The Meiers took possession of their new home in August, and Andy is happily ensconced in his main floor study, which Trish, a banking operations analyst, shares with him on days she works from home.

“It’s either that or at the kitchen table,” she says with a sigh. “We haven’t developed the basement yet, but once we have that done I’ll probably have my own space there.”

Sam Hudson, director of marketing for Morrison Homes, says there are still opportunities to build a Heathrow in Nolan Hill, or its companion model for standard lot sizes, the Harrison.

“Both homes are economically designed at just under 2,000 square feet. Every space is put to good use. When you walk in the front door, there’s a good-sized flex room or den, which can be enclosed or left open. The side staircase allows for more open space throughout the main floor. You’ve got a good-sized dining room and kitchen with walk-in pantry, home management centre and a good-sized mud room,” he says.

With the upstairs central bonus room, large bedrooms and master ensuite with dual vanities plus laundry, the Heathrow is so well put together that customers could easily visualize the final product, even without a show home.

“Even on paper, the floor plan makes sense,” Hudson says.

The standard model is 1,931 square feet, just shy of the Meier’s home with all its changes.

“That’s one of the benefits of building with Morrison. We’re happy to work with the customer to personalize the house for them,” he says.

Nolan Hill, with its unique Old-World architectural styling and castle ruin entrance, is nearly complete. Hudson says as the community winds down, Morrison is down to nine lots and six quick possession homes.

“Our two show homes will be for sale shortly,” he says, noting that Morrison has partnered with Virtuo to give quick possession homes buyers a $2,000 moving credit this fall.

Trish and Andy have another son living in Nolan Hill with his family, with their daughter a short distance away in Airdrie. Trish says proximity to stores and to Stoney Trail was another attractive feature of the community.

“The developer has also spent a considerable amount of money on the boulevards and tree planting and green spaces in this community. My husband is just waiting for a hockey rink now,” Trish says with a wink.

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